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SPECTRE (Spoiler Free)

Most reviews are saying “it’s good, but not as good as Skyfall” and I can see where they’re coming from. The latest Bond film – SPECTRE – is, in my opinion, the best Daniel Craig Bond film (let’s face it, best Bond film) we’ve had. If you liked the return to wisecracking charm in Skyfall then you’ll love this.

We begin a little while after M’s (Judi Dench) death at Skyfall. Bond has received a message from beyond the grave: find some guy, kill him, don’t miss the funeral. And so begins a globe-trotting mission of such personal dimensions that we suddenly realise we’ve always been heading here. If the old Bond movies were about cars and girls and secret bases it transpires that the Craig Bond films are absolutely about the man himself, his past, and his future.

Our favourites are back – from Skyfall, at least. Dench’s M appears in a sense, new M (Ralph Fiennes) puts in a spectacularly refreshing turn, given chance to leave his desk. Moneypenny (Naomi Harris) and the ever-lovable Q (Ben Wishaw) shine brighter than they did in Skyfall. The entire cast is wonderful – Belucci, Seydoux, Scott – there isn’t a dropped ball among them. And as for Christoph Waltz’s villain, Franz Obenhauser, there’s little more to say than “wow, what a threat!” (that fucking drill, man!).

I’m trying to be as vague and spoiler-free as possible here, I don’t want to spoil anything (even the things that really don’t need spoiling) so I’ll wrap up by saying this: SPECTRE is Skyfall II. SPECTRE is Craig Bond IV. And it ties the era up wonderfully, offering several heavy nods to the past (eyes open, they’re everywhere!) and wrapping a neat bow around the future. Daniel Craig is unlikely to do another Bond film and I think that SPECTRE is the perfect send-off.

SPECTRE is absolutely a concluding part to a Daniel Craig Bond Anthology but there are beginnings aplenty, both new one and revisited ones. God, I want to say so much more! Put it this way, some reviewers have complained about the plot. They’re wrong to do so. Many will say the climax is dull. It absolutely isn’t; not everything needs to be a scenic, helicopter-shot explosion orgy. Dear me, what an awful review. I’ll do a more spoilery one soon, where I can tell you WHY I think it’s such a great movie, but in the meantime GO AND SEE THIS FILM!